(Author’s POV)
"My~ Myra, are you feeling okay?" Sandra inquired, etching with concern, her voice choking a little.
Myra nestled her head in the crook of her mother’s neck as she murmured, "I am~ ... fine." Although she said this, her vision blurred from unshed tears. She hid her face so that no one could see her moist eyes. After spending a few seconds in Sandra’s warm and loving embrace, she pulled away. By now, her nerves had settled. Or you could say, she forced herself to feel fine.
She didn’t want to worry anyone, nor did she want their effort to go down the drain. Everyone had suffered a lot for the past few days. So, after retracting away, she smiled, the brightest she could and said, "I just got a little startled, that’s all. You don’t need to worry."
Sandra could see the struggle in Myra’s eyes, but Myra quickly wiped her mother’s tears and tried to reassure her, "Mom, I am fine. Really~ ... Weren’t you excited to welcome me? Now, I know why you were calling Dad nonstop." She tried to change the topic.
She then walked around, looking at all the decorations and said, her voice a bit high-pitched, "Did you all do this~ .... for me?" Her eyes crinkled. She was truly touched. "Wendy, the tags beneath the ribbons, it must have been your idea, right?" She tried to lighten the gloomy atmosphere. The tags she was referring to were all handwritten in Wendy’s writing, which read, "My sister is the best~ .... Myra, we love you~ .... Accept this warm and tight hug (with a chibi art of two people embracing) ~ .... No matter what, we are always beside you~" and so on.
Yelena sighed and joined in, "Yeah, Wends designed the theme. She was up all night to write these messages. Nora and I helped her with the décor. The guys, they helped in as well," she said, walking towards Myra.
She held Myra’s hand and took her to the special seat they had prepared for her, "Come, your highness. Take your throne."
As Myra settled down, Yelena fixed a crown on her head.
Meanwhile, Nora gestured to Wendy with her eyes. Getting the signal, Wendy tiptoed and disappeared into the kitchen. The girls did their absolute best to dispel the somberness lingering in the room. And after a while, it finally did. Not as lively as before, but it was doable.
Alaric looked at Myra with an unreadable expression. A year ago, in Kimberg, he was the sole witness to the assault, the harassment Myra had faced at the hands of those rogue wolves. And going through, living that kind of traumatic experience once again, no wonder she was alarmed by the sudden noise. Anyone in her position would react like that. Both times, despite boasting himself as a powerful wolf, the Lycan heir apparent, he wasn’t of any help to her. He couldn’t save her.
’Seeing mate, trying to put on a brave front in front of everyone, it’s truly breaking my heart,’ Alex sulked as a pang of irritation settled in Alaric’s chest. He silently vowed not to let anything like this happen again.
Soon, Wendy came out of the kitchen, dragging a trolley. On it was a two-tiered cake, handmade by Sandra, the candles on it illuminating beautifully. With extreme care, she placed it in front of Myra, "Mom made this~ ... especially for you," Wendy told her. It wasn’t anything fancy, with basic frosting and simple strawberry and kiwi toppings, but Myra could tell how much hard work and effort Sandra had put into it. Though Sandra was an incredible cook, she never really did baking because of a past incident when she was taking a bakery class.
Myra was overwhelmed, but she held her tears back. She didn’t want to give them another fright, "It looks perfect," she said.



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